Middleburg student going to Shakespeare finals

In this year’s English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition, Brandon Paris from Middleburg High School outperformed 11 other area high school students to represent the Jacksonville chapter at the national finals April 22 in New York City at the Lincoln Center. The national winner will earn an opportunity to study acting in England.

Ryan Powless, also from Middleburg, came in second and Maria Boyance from Episcopal School was third in the contest held recently at Friday Musicale’s L’Engle Hall. Other competitors were: Emily Johns and May Lee from The Bolles School, Caroline Clark from Episcopal School, Ty Ormond and James Richardson from Keystone Heights Junior/Senior High, Reagan Grochala and Vanessa Reed from Oakleaf High School and William Leonard and Aaron Zeiler from Stanton College Preparatory.

The English-Speaking Union of the United States is a non-political charitable corporation with the stated mission “to celebrate English as a shared language.”